Quakes hope to be Spurred to new heights

Weddings are always full of hope and good intentions, and so it was yesterday at the Earthquakes/Tottenham nuptials. (Our story is here.) The Fairmont Hotel setting was grand, there were party favors for all attendees in the form of new, custom t-shirts with the Quakes and Spurs logos, and everyone was smiling at the potential of the new partnership.

As with any marriage, time will tell how fruitful the union will be, but it looks from here like the potential is great. Bay Area friendlies on both the senior and youth levels are already on the to-do list for Spurs, San Jose’s coaching staff will be visiting London at some point during the off season, and the business development gurus of both front offices will undoubtedly be putting their heads together as well. Combine these elements with the fact that Tottenham’s revenues for the 2006-07 season placed them as the 11th richest club on Earth, between Serie A sides Roma and Juventus, and the fifth richest club in England behind the “big four” of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool, and you can start to understand that this could be a very big deal for both sides.

Yesterday’s press conference has elicited some strong press coverage from both sides of the pond. Both the Earthquakes and Spurs issued press releases, MLSnet.com has a story from our own Jeff Carlisle, and the press is hot on the story as well. Media outlets covering the story include the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, KLIV radio, SportsTicker, and Goal.com in the U.S., and Sky Sports, the Press Association, and the Guardian newspapers in the U.K., as well as the international ESPN Soccernet.  (Only the British press, with “Spurs show the way to San Jose” and “Spurs cause an Earthquake in America,” go for the clever headline, so we indulged ourselves with today’s banner to help the apparent U.S. trade imbalance.)

In other news:

- The Merc’s Elliott Almond takes a look at this weekend’s match against Chivas USA. The “just the facts, ma’am” preview is available on MLSnet.com.

-  The Salt Lake Royals opened their new stadium last night, and the Salt Lake Tribune has published a photo gallery.

- U.S. Soccer has published the Week 28 “Referee Week in Review,” and there is no mention anywhere of the bad calls in the Dallas/San Jose match. Let’s hope someone spoke with Abby Okulaja personally, then, about what constitutes a red card handball.